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The far Northwest of the Groningen province is a rather unknown part of the Netherlands. Reitdiep, originating in Groningen town, there ends in the former Lauwerszee, called Lauwersmeer from 1969 onwards, when the sea was dammed. The 1953 floodings in Zealand have left a deep impression, but the sea also raged at the Groningen coast.

The Western European food chain is very inefficient, says Johan Sanders, professor ‘biobased commodity chemicals’ at Wageningen UR. We could greatly reduce imports, mainly of soy, by improving efficiency. ‘Each Western European consumes 2 500 kcal a day. But our society uses a stunning 50 000 kcal per person to deliver this food to the

‘The biobased economy is based on another logic than the existing economy,’ says Johan Sanders. ‘And many problems in the transition to a biobased economy arise from the fact that people find it hard to think according to that new logic. In the first place, we should counteract inefficiency in many forms. That will lead

A happy man, Barend Verachtert called himself, head of the unit Biotechnology of DG Research & Innovation of the European Commission. Friday 17 May 2013, at 5 o’clock in the afternoon, the administrative negotiations on the innovation program BRIDGE had been successfully concluded. BRIDGE: Biobased & Renewable Industries for Development and Growth in Europe. Now

Once, Dutch Lagerwey wind turbines were the best and most innovative, but did that lead to a major wind turbine industry? No, that branch is in the hands of the Germans and Danes. And solar energy? The Netherlands were among the top in innovation, knowledge and technology, but do the Dutch now have a fair

Plexiglas emits 2½ kilos of CO2 per kilogram of product, Geo and I find. We looked it up on the internet. Glass is much less CO2-efficient, 8.4 kilos of CO2 per kilogram of glass. Unless one uses recycled glass, then the number is a mere 1.4. And PLA emits just ½ kilo, manufacturers aim to